In the Name of Art

My wife is very an accomplished actress who graduated from Drama College with honours. She has never been afraid to undertake demanding roles. Indeed she excels when given a challenging role. She is very broad minded and has never flinched when asked to perform scenes involving partial or full nudity. She has a very attractive figure and I can understand why she is approached to play such parts. Recently a director friend who has hired my wife on numerous occasions asked if she would undertake a screen test for a screen adaptation of a play that would feature scenes that involved several 'love scenes'. She has done such scenes in the past and agreed to read the script. The play was written by a playwright who had a repetition of pushing the boundaries of modern theatre but nevertheless was highly acclaimed. My wife read the script but was taken aback by a couple of scenes which took her by surprise.

The script was great. There was just one problem: the sex. Although the vast majority of sexual situations depicted in mainstream theatre are simulated, on rare occasions produces have written scripts in which actors were instructed to engage in some level of genuine sexual activity. The script had lots of sex and worse still it required my wife to push her acting abilities to the limit -- if she accepted the part she would be required to engage in real sex. There were several scenes of unsimulated sex acts. In the side notes of the screenplay the writer had written freehand notes like "Mary caresses Derek's penis and takes it in her mouth" and "Derek and Mary engage in rough sex culminating in full penetration". Nudity was required but this went beyond anything she has done in the past. It wasn't pornography as the script was too well written with a strong story line exploring the sexual relationship of a modern couple in today's society.

I can see the press getting hold of this by writing sensational headlines like "So did she, or didn't she?" The answer would be pretty easy to establish, so, in a desperate effort to avoid discussing the actual play, the interviewer will ask her whether her co-star "really" had an orgasm when he had sex with her.

Well, who can blame the journalists? Why should they resist this line of inquiry when readers would clearly wish the journalist to pursue it? No one is going to see the film now because they're interested in the story. To a man and woman, they'll be queuing for a look at leading man's penis penetrating my wife. Respectable people they may be, but at this moment they are no different from the flickering-eyed consumer of pornography who fast-forwards through the scene-setting to get to the money shot.

The writer's claim, that audiences cannot be convinced that sexual relations are taking place unless they actually see it, is an interesting thought but it's not his wife who is getting fucked on film in name of art.

Because one of the perks of a sexual relationship is the right to know what the person looks like without their clothes, there's a fascination in partners who are forced to share that knowledge. If the definition of sex is private knowledge of someone, what happens psychologically when that information is forcibly shared? What is it like to have a partner whose job is to pretend to have sex with someone else?

Would my wife will willingly give fellatio to another guy and later let him slip his penis inside her in the name of art. Will I be jealous? I could come to terms and convince myself a blow-job is acceptable and no way undermines our marriage vows, but what about full penetration? I really don't know. I know it wouldn't be an act of unfaithfulness but nevertheless to know a guy she hardly knows is fucking her under the pretext of art is a step too far.

The problem for the partners of actors is that concern about making up becoming making out on stage may not be paranoia but realism. A large number of actual relationships in entertainment start with people playing lovers. If office romances happen anyway, imagine the greater chances of transgression if the job at a particular office involves the faking of love-making all day.

The single most important influence on my wife's decision to work on the production was the director. They talked about the sex scenes in exacting detail. He watched my wife carefully to see how she would respond. She responded by trusting him. She saw a director with a serious purpose who could handle actors. When I asked my wife why she wanted to take a chance on the kind of sex the director was portraying in the play, she said, first, "because I've never seen it done before." So when the director asked my wife if she would take the part and she accepted I knew it was past the point of no return. I knew I had to get used to my wife and her co-star performing oral and penetrative sex.

In the final weeks of rehearsals there was no question that the sex scenes were the most demanding. My wife described it as exhaustively "grafting your way through scene work". She would come home exhausted. The director had agreed to make it safer than just a "closed" set. When a scene ended, the crew were not allowed to rush in and rearrange things. My wife and her leading man needed time gradually to pull themselves out of a punishing experience.

Then there was the matter of displaying physical arousal in front of the audience. For the guy, the most difficult scene was when wife takes him in her mouth. My wife's toughest moment came when she had to allow another guy penetrate her. Some might say that she would have to be either very brave or very stupid to do what my wife was about to do. She is going to expose herself in all possible senses of the word. Her genitalia quite literally on display for all to see, she gives a blowjob and gets fucked.

In my wife's defence the nub of the film is seeing sex so forthrightly portrayed, not that it shows anything that one imagines most couples don't do behind closed doors. "It isn't shocking," says my wife. "If you know you are going to watch a film like this, it's not abrasive, its normal sex that everyone has, not crazy stuff." She also points out that only two scenes go beyond "normal" sex scenes (though the screenplay is extremely explicit, by any standards). These are the fellatio scene and the ultimate act, in which the couple have full penetrative sex. "I dealt with them as best I could," my wife said later. "I expect my leading man did the same."

When I first saw the screen I was amazed. It was simply stunning. The sex scenes were so natural, she took him in her mouth with such intimacy you thought they were in love and not acting such was the quality of their interpretation of the script. I thought I wouldn't be able to accept the 'fuck scene' but from the moment my wife was pinned against the wall of the room, her blouse ripped off and her bra pushed up to reveal her lovely breasts I knew I would accept her in this part. I knew I still loved her. She looked so sexy in her role and her casting was a masterstroke of the first magnitude, the specially selected audience loved her. This was lust and passion all in one.

The way they embraced each other, the way he fondled her breasts portrayed a loving couple striving for sexual satisfaction. It was sexual and animalistic all in one. It was no surprise that he took her in his arms, stroking her body all over and slipping his hand into her panties whilst giving her the kiss of her life. He dragged her across the room pulling her skirt up to reveal those sexy stockings. Now at the height of passion he bent her over the arms of the sofa ripping off her panties exposing her pussy. He dropped his pants revealing his full erection. Without hesitation he slipped his erect penis deep inside my gorgeous wife. I shall never forget the expression on her face when she realised he had penetrated her. With one wild thrust his penis went straight in. His penis didn't encounter any resistance. How my wife must have been waiting for that moment. Her legs were now spread apart allowing him to fuck her with all his might, thrusting his large penis deep into my wife. Her firm breasts swayed in time with his thrusts. God, I was getting an erection. Was this real? Was it really happening in front of my eyes, would it be allowed to continue? Yes, the audience loved it, through the actors they were living out their own personal suburban fantasy.

How much more could my wife take. What a daft thought, she loved it. She was living out her own sexual fantasy and when she yelled in orgasmic pleasure that was no acting. Finally, the thrusting stopped but he didn't pull out as I was lead to believe instead he slowed his pace and to my horror I was witnessing his orgasm. He was shooting his seed in my wife.

When I finally caught up with my wife on the day of the big shoot, I embraced with all my love. I was so proud of her. She had performed so brilliantly. That night in bed we made love. It was a strange experience knowing that only a few short hours ago another guy had been fucking my wife. We made love but her pussy was much looser but strangely it added to the occasion. Then it hit me. He wasn't wearing a condom when he fucked my wife earlier. She isn't on the pill as I have had a vasectomy. This erotic moment was turning into a nightmare. I didn't raise the matter that night but it played on my mind all night. What would happen if she got pregnant? I managed to buck up the courage to ask her what precautions she took. She explained that she discussed this during rehearsals and it was agreed a condom wouldn't have worked. She also explained that she and her leading man discussed the possibility of having unprotected sex. They were both 'clean' so forgoing the use of a condom was viable. But it didn't solve the problem of birth control. Both must have realised that it was a near certainty that he would ejaculate inside her. I was confused, but my wife explained she was so engrossed in what she was doing it didn't dawn on her visit her gynaecologist and explore appropriate methods of birth control but she did have the foresight to remember to take the morning after pill.

A few days later my wife heard the screen test was a success and the press attention ensured it would get full funding. My wife eventually shot several scenes. She was "knackered" at the end of filming but her name was now box office and her hard work paid off as she was offered another lucrative film role. She was strangely rather cagey about letting me see the script but has been more willing for us to have anal intercourse! I look forward to reading the script!